Deep Sky Objects - David Mathre Photography

Friday (20-January-2023) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

After two days of cloudy skies, the sky cleared just long enough before dawn to capture images of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). This time with both the Stellina and Vespera telescope/cameras. The comet is high enough above the horizon to the north-east before dawn to be viewed above my house from my patio. I use the Sky Live website to get the location of the comet, and then enter the numbers into the Singularity application. Within minutes, both the Stellina and Vespera had the comet centered and start taking images.

Stellina and Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). JPG images processed with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (79.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (23.1 kWh) from Sense. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 56.8 kWh.

Wednesday (18-January-2022) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

The pre-dawn sky was clear with the green Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) high enough above the horizon to the northeast to be viewed from my patio using a Vespera telescope-camera.

Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). JPG images processed with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

During the day, I used the Vespera telescope fitted with a solar filter to view the many sunspots currently visible. For solar observations, the Vespera takes individual JPEG images which I put together as a short time-lapse video. There were periods of time that clouds got in the way.

I set up two cameras to record star trails. One pointing north (Nikon Z9) using a CamRanger II controller for long (300 sec) exposures. The other camera (Hallelblad X2D) pointing south. You can see the clouds coming and going.

Star and Jet trails looking south. Images taken with a Hasselblad X2D camera and 30 mm f/3.5 lens (ISO 64, 30 mm, f/8, 323 s). Images processed with Phocus and the composites created using PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Star and Jet trails looking north. Images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera, FTZ adapter, and 19 mm f/4 PC-E lens (ISO 64, 19 mm, f/8, 300 s). CamRanger II intervalometer used to control the camera (bulb, 5 min exposure). Images processed with Capture One Pro and the composites created using PhotoShop (scripts, statistics, maximum). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

The sky was partially clear before midnight. The Stellina and Vespera telescope/cameras were set up to capture images of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), Polaris (North Star), Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237), Satellite Cluster (NGC 2244), Cone Nebula/Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264). The clouds interfered with several of the images. It appears that the observation stations automatically stop collecting and processing images at some point when the clouds become problematic.

For the following images, I processed the final JPG image with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. For the raw TIFF images, I needed to use Capture One Pro first, followed by Topaz AI. Follow the link to my PhotoShelter Gallery for larger views of the images.

Stellina and Vespera Deep Sky Observations. JPG images processed with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Stellina and Vespera Deep Sky Observations. TIF images processed with Capture One Pro followed by Topaz AI. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (80.0 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (23.9 kWh) from Sense. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 56.1 kWh.

Sunday (15-January-2023) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

After several days of clouds and rain, the skies finally cleared. I had both the Stellina and Vespera systems out. There currently several active sunspots. During the night I captured images of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Orion Galaxy (M42), Rosette Nebula (NBC 2237), Satellite Cluster (NGC 2244), Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), and the Moon. Also, I used the manual mode to search for the Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). It was finally high enough to be viewed to the northeast over the house from my patio. I used the Sky Live website to get the location, and then just plugged the numbers into the Singularity application. Within minutes, both the Stellina and Vespera systems had the comet centered and started taking images.

Vespera Deep Sky Observations. JPG images processed with Topaz AI, followed by Capture One Pro. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Vespera Deep Sky Observations. TIF images processed with Capture One Pro followed by Topaz AI. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Since it was a dark night, I also set up a camera to capture images for a composite star and jet trails view looking north. Polaris isn’t exactly at the celestial north point. The file size is 11656 x 8742 (403.4MB).

alt_title. (David J Mathre) — Star and Jet Trails looking north. Composite of 110 images taken with a Hasselblad X2d camera and 30 mm f/3.5 lens (ISO 64, 30 mm, f/8, 323 sec). Raw images processed with Phocus and Capture One Pro. Composite created with Photoshop (scripts, statistics, maximum). (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (92.8 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (33.3 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Deficit of 59.6 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (618 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (121 kWh) from Sense. Deficit of 497 kWh.

Friday (23-December-2022) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime in New Jersey.

Yesterday it rained most of the day. Then during the night, the temperature rose with more wind and rain. By noon the temperature was dropping rapidly, and for a short period there was heavy wind and blowing snow. That is when I got a picture of the Santa Nisse meditating before Christmas.

Meditating Santa. (David J Mathre) — Meditating Santa wishing for a white Christmas. Image taken with a Hasselblad X2D camera and 90 mm f/3.5 lens (ISO 64, 90 mm, f/4, 16 sec). (David J Mathre)

Just after astronomical twilight the sky was clear long enough to capture enough images of the Orion Galaxy (M42) using the Vespera astro-camera. After that the clouds came back with cold wind and blowing snow. The Vespera seems to handle 7°F (-14°C). I do leave the Vespera outside for 15 minutes to equilibrate before running the automatic initialization and autofocus. Then when done for the night, put a plastic bag around the Vespera before bringing it inside to minimize condensation.

Orion Nebula (M42). (David J Mathre) — Orion Nebula (M42). Composite of 258 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Camera (200 mm, f/4, 10 sec). Image processed with Capture One Pro and Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (92.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (2.9 kWh) from Sense. Rain and clouds. Deficit of 90.0 kWh. Once the outside temperatures drop below 10°F, the GeoThermal HVAC system requires additional resistance heating to maintain the inside temperature at 66°F.

Wednesday (21-December-2022) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey.

It’s the winter solstice (or the longest night). Early in the morning I captured images of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) using the mosaic mode for a wider field of view (400 images). Also, the Horsehead Nebula (B33). Although I collected 1107 images, I could only use the first 379 images for the composite because a Sycamore tree blocks the view towards the west. Early evening, I captured images of the Dumbbell Nebula (M27). I had to stop after 258 images because the sky started to cloud over. No more observations for a couple of days due to the forecast of a winter storm.

One thing that I don’t like about the Vespera is the data needs to be transferred via WiFi using ftp to a PC. There isn’t a removable data card or USB cable option for the data transfer.

Vespera Deep Sky Observations. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (99.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (30.8 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Deficit of 68.8 kWh. I should note that on a sunny day near the Summer Solstice the solar panels produce 3 times as much power. Longer hours and the sun is higher in the sky.